The present invention relates to a bar clamp connection and especially to a bar clamp connection for mounting on the end of a rod or the like for clamping a bar to the end of the rod.
In the past, there have been a wide variety of clamp assemblies for attaching rods, pipes, hoses, cables or the like to another rod-like member, such as a pipe or a rod. Many types of clamp assemblies have been used to secure the members to one another. The rod or pipe members may be horizontally positioned or vertically positioned. However, a great many of the prior art clamps have been directed towards connecting pipes to each other or holding cables, pipes or tubes in a fixed parallel position attached to another pipe or rod.
Prior art U.S. patents for clamps and holders can be seen in the Hancock U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,975 for a multipurpose holder with a flexible block having a guide surface for securement and attachment to a variety of surfaces including attaching one pipe to another in either a parallel or perpendicular connection and in the Meuth et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,995 for a high strength clamp assembly with flexible straps. In this patent, a clamp assembly for clamping a pipe or the like to a support member which may be another pipe and includes a pair of flexible support straps connected to a receptacle and a pair of flexible clamping straps for connecting one or more members to a support member and specifically to attach one or more pipes to another pipe. The W. A. Fox et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,738 shows a device for tieing chairs in a side-by-side relationship to form a fixed row of chairs from individual chairs and includes a spacer to fit between the chairs which are wrapped with a VELCRO strap. The Dexter U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,110 shows a scuba tank harness which straps a scuba tank to the harness. The Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,393 is a holder for elongated members and especially for holding medical tubes, such as catheters, while the catheter is in use. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,543 to McCay et al., a flexible fastener assembly has a double ended flexible strap having a flexible hook fastener assembly in each end for strapping items together. The Delk et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,037 is for a medical conduit holder which temporarily clamps a conduit adjacent the surface of an object for holding medical conduits to a patient's body.
In contrast, the present invention is directed towards a bar clamp connection for connecting an elongated bar, rod, tube or the like, generically referred to as an elongated bar, to another elongated bar, pipe, rod or tube. An elongated tubular member has an open side for inserting an elongated bar member and wherein the open side is closed with a hook and loop strap which is strapped over the open side. The far clamp connection is ideally suitable for attaching a pair of dumbbells to the end of an elongated rod or pipe for rapidly converting the dumbbells to a barbell.